Dr. Rusky, Board Certified Family Physician and certified in hospice and palliative care, has practiced in both urban and rural settings. Today, he discusses the differences between home health care, palliative care and hospice. He answers what resources palliative care provides in addition to the many services a person might already be receiving. He mentions palcarenetwork.com, a resource to help select a palcare provider and assist with long term planning. Ultimately, it is about whole-person care, ensuring mind, body and spirit are receiving the supports needed to help a person live with advanced disease or complex illness. Tune in now for answers to questions you did not know you had about differing care and aging with altitude.
Aging with Altitude is recorded in the Pikes Peak region with a focus on topics of aging interest across the country. We talk about both the everyday and novel needs and approaches to age with altitude whether you’re in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida or Leadville, Colorado. The Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging is the producer. Learn more at Pikes Peak Area Agency on Aging.
Transcript:
Audio
00:00
You're listening to Studio 809. This is what community sounds like.
Cynthia Margiotta:
00:15
Hello, and thank you for listening to Aging with Altitude, a podcast series sponsored by the Pikes Peak Area Council of Governments Area Agency on Aging that aims to highlight issues and resources that affect our older adults in our community. My name is Cynthia Margiotta and I'm here with Dr. Chris Ruskey. Dr. Ruskey is a board certified family physician, and is also certified in hospice and palliative medicine in the U.S, and by the Royal Society of Medicine of New Zealand and Australia. He has provided care in rural and urban settings in the U.S. and abroad, including a small group practice, assisted living, nursing facilities, and hospitals. He has served as medical advisor to home health and skilled rehabilitation services. For the past 16 years, Dr. Ruskey has dedicated his professional time to the fields of palliative medicine and hospice, serving as medical director for both community-based and hospital-based services. He has volunteered faculty for the education of medical students, nurse practitioners, and family medicine residents. In addition, Dr. Ruskey is involved in several community collaboratives to improve transitions in care and community understanding and best practices in the application of palliative care for our community. Today's podcast theme is supportive and palliative care. What is it? And how could it benefit me and my loved ones and my parents? Thank you, Dr. Ruskey, for being a part of this podcast. Now I have a few questions for you, if you don't mind, sir.
Dr. Ruskey:
02:03
No, that would be wonderful. Thank you for that introduction and for allowing me to participate in the podcast.
Cynthia Margiotta:
02:10
So, what is supportive and palliative care?
Dr. Ruskey:
02:13
Supportive and palliative care is whole person care, which is generally focused on symptom management such as pain, nausea, not sleeping well, or perhaps poor appetite. This may include care planning, such as advanced care planning, attention to mood, anxiety, depression, shoring up a person's supports and resources or addressing spiritual concerns. This whole person approach to care has been shown to improve a person's quality of life and function and they do better with whatever treatments they're receiving to treat their underlying disease. So for example, if the person is being treated for cancer, in order to best tolerate the treatment and benefit from the treatment of their cancer, they do better when their symptoms
